I've a scene with an object that has an fx emitter dynamics object attached emitting particles from the parent object's surface.
Is there any way to convert the particles made by the fx emitter object to a standalone object? Like say to an lwo file, or is there a way to detach the fx emitter object from the parent (polygonal) object while keeping the shape and form of the particles?

HowardM

01-27-2006, 12:39 PM

what exactly are you trying to do?

you can calculate and save your .pfx file which will save the particles in their positions.
you could also FXLink nulls to every particles, and then im sure theres a plugin to save all those seperate nulls to one object or even points in one layer...

jeremyhardin

01-27-2006, 05:40 PM

a partigon emitter uses single point polygons and saves an lwo. perhaps you can 'Save Transformed' on the frame you want and have it reflect in the partigons.

SoulExertion

01-27-2006, 10:26 PM

what exactly are you trying to do?

What I'm really trying to do, is save time. If I can find a means to render the polgonal object and the particles seperately, I can save approximately 3-6 hours each frame in my animation, as I need to anti-alias the polygonal object, but not the particles in my scene (they render smooth enough without anti-aliasing). Also, as a side-note, said particles are in motion, and I've set Hypervoxels' stretch direction property to use the velocity of the particles motion.
I don't know if I could get away with using nulls for this reason.
(ugh sorry for the run-on sentence, I just woke up :|)

Edit: I saved the particles and motion in pfx form. Created a null, attached an emitter object to the null, and loaded the pfx file. Worked like a dream. Thanks :)

LightFreeze

01-27-2006, 10:56 PM

Once youve calculated and saved the PFX motion file, replace the object with a null and you will keep all the particle info

HowardM

01-28-2006, 04:52 PM

ahh ok yeah i do that all the time, render my particles in layers....most 'smokey' HVs can be rendered at 1/2 or 2/3 res and comped with a slight blur....unless youre going for film or HD res...even sometimes it can be gotten away. :D

and btw, you can turn off Volumetric Antialiasing in the Volumetrics Menu (ctrl-F6) and render in one pass (LW will AA your objs but not the HVs) :D or you can use Adaptive Sampling in the Camera Menu and play with its threshiold to do speedy AA pases on Volumetrics, plus you can use motion blur and still get quick renders...again then blur slightly to take care of any artifacts...

but its always better to render layers with hold out objects and alphas and then comp them...

hey jeremy, that works great, :D hehe, silly me i forgot that could be done!

LightFreeze

01-28-2006, 10:08 PM

just to save you a step SoulExertion I meant in the ITEMS/REPLACE menu you can automatically replace an object with a null, it will keep all the info about the object and later if required you can replace the null with your original object or a hi res version or something and have all the settings ready for you

very handy it is

CGTalk Moderation

01-28-2006, 10:08 PM

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.